Chapter 3

 

 

 

 

The Baptism in the Holy Spirit

and Inner Healing

 

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.  Acts 1:8

 

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come ... they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. ... and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.               Acts 2:1-4 and 41

 

Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus ascended to Heaven. On that momentous day, He commanded His disciples: “Tarry [wait] ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). After Jesus had gone, the disciples returned to Jerusalem and went into an upper room. About ten days later, on the Jewish feast day of Pentecost, about one hundred and twenty of the disciples, including Mary the mother of Jesus, were baptized in the Holy Spirit in that upper room. The Holy Spirit came into that room like a mighty, powerful wind. At the same time, purifying, sanctifying tongues of fire came upon them, and they all spoke in other tongues. It was a life-transforming experience of great power and inner change.

In the Bible, the infilling of the Holy Spirit always appears to have been accompanied by two things — by a mighty inner transformation and by speaking in other tongues. On the Day of Pentecost, all those who received spoke in other tongues. Paul spoke in other tongues when he received the baptism of the Spirit in Damascus. When those who had gathered at the house of Cornelius in Caesarea were filled with the Holy Spirit, they also spoke in tongues (see Acts 10:46). When the Apostle Paul laid hands on the disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, “and they spake with tongues, and prophesied” (Acts 19:6).

The baptism in the Holy Spirit with speaking in other tongues is the key to a deeper prayer life and to a more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus. The Word of God comes alive when it is quickened to you by the Spirit, you are able to hear the voice of God more easily, and visions come to you more freely. We should get our children filled with the Spirit at an early age. One of ours was filled at age five, one at six, and one at ten. Because of this, all of them began hearing the voice of God and having visions while they were very young.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit immediately gives you a greater anointing to minister to others, whether it is in preaching, teaching, singing, witnessing, praying for the sick or delivering the oppressed. So the sooner you can receive it, the better.

New converts and millions of Christians in every denomination and in every nation are receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues. Recent estimates are that there are 240 million Spirit-filled believers worldwide. This experience brings more power, joy and a greater love for Jesus into the lives of all those who receive it.

 

Our Personal Day of Pentecost

 

The same night that Pattie and I received Jesus into our hearts we were baptized in the Holy Spirit, and both of us spoke in tongues. Pattie spoke in three different languages. She also had several visions, received words of knowledge about friends of ours, and  felt the arms of Jesus go around her. She was transformed deeply within and also received a physical healing in her body.

Aside from the brief lull I will mention later in the book, I have never stopped speaking in tongues. We worship the Lord in tongues daily and intercede in tongues for ourselves and for others. Being baptized in the Holy Spirit has given us a deep love for the Lord Jesus Christ, a love for the Bible and for prayer, and a greater love and compassion for others. It has brought great joy and fulfillment into our lives, and a ministry that has taken us to over forty nations of the world.

 

From Cowardice to “Holy Boldness”

 

And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth. But he denied ... .

And he denied it again. ... He began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.

                                   Mark 14:67-68 and 70-71

 

The baptism of the Holy Spirit delivers us from fear and makes us bold.

Peter denied Jesus three times and even cursed during the third denial. On the Day of Pentecost, this same Peter was baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire, and the Lord delivered him from a spirit of fear and from profanity. That day his fears were replaced by a courage that enabled him in the future to preach the Gospel all over the known world in the face of imprisonment and death. His life was totally changed that day.

When Jesus was arrested, Peter was not the only one who denied Him: “Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled” (Matthew 26:56; see also Mark 14:50). On the Day of Pentecost, these other disciples were also baptized in the Holy Spirit and fire and delivered from their fears. Their lives were dramatically changed, and they too became willing to suffer and die for the Lord.

Paul’s life was cleansed, sanctified and empowered through the baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues. He declared, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all” (1 Corinthians 14:18), and the result was a total turnaround in his life. His hatred of Christians was transformed into a burning love for Christ and His people. His driving energy to persecute and destroy Christians changed into a zeal to win souls for Christ. He was able to declare:

I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.           Philippians 3:8

 

In the time of the early Church virtually everyone, including the authors of the New Testament books, all the apostles and even Mary the mother of Jesus had this experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in other tongues. Through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, the Lord did a deep work of inner transformation and sanctification (inner healing) in Peter, in Paul, and in the lives of the other disciples. They all became “obedient unto death” and were transformed into firebrands for their faith. Their heart’s desire became winning souls for Christ.

 

Different Dimensions of Being

Baptized in the Holy Spirit

 

There are different dimensions of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, and most of us are receiving experiences far below the level God has for us. We should not be satisfied with a “light” infilling of the Holy Spirit. I speak from experience, for I received a light infilling myself. I wanted a deeper experience, so I went on a ten-day fast, and on the third day of the fast I received a life-changing refilling of the Spirit which included deliverance from an occultic evil spirit.

According to the Bible pattern, the baptism in the Holy Spirit is accompanied by a dramatic transformation in one’s life, with the purifying, transforming fire of the Holy Spirit attending it. John the Baptist declared:

I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.  Luke 3:16

 

The “fire” of the Holy Spirit produces much cleansing and inner healing in those who experience it.

One elderly Australian minister told me, “I laughed off and on for three days after being baptized in the Holy Spirit. I was forever changed.” Another minister said, “After being filled with the Holy Spirit, I wept for three days. My life was transformed.” Both of these men became prayer warriors and mighty men of God.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit often brings with it weeping and holy laughter. Both are forms of self-travail. This travail from the innermost part of one’s being can include contractions of the stomach muscles, “groanings” (see Romans 8:26) and even screaming (see the following chapter). Anointed screaming, a loud crying from deep within, releases the emotional poisons of bitterness and other hurts in our lives. It is often an important part of life-changing self-travail. Deep laughter in the Spirit is also a form of self-travail that can lead to deep inner healing. Also, such laughter frequently triggers deep sobbing or crying. These manifestations of the Spirit are powerful in releasing us from the hurts of the past and in inner cleansing.

 

Drunk in the Spirit for Three Days

 

A lovely saint of God received the baptism in the Holy Spirit in about 1910. For three days she could only speak in tongues. She could not speak a word in English. The Lord did a deep work of inner transformation in her life. She became deep in prayer, faith and inner holiness, and from her family line came a number of outstanding men and women of God, one of whom ministered in over eighty nations of the world, and another who ministered in over a hundred and fifty nations of the world.

 

Deeply Baptized in the Holy Spirit

 

As you hunger for more of God, you can be refilled with the Holy Spirit and receive a greater anointing in your life too. Jesus promised:

 

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.  Matthew 5:6

 

Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled.

                                                             Luke 6:21

 

How can your hunger for the Lord grow? The first step is to ask God to increase your hunger for Him. He will do it. He has promised:

 

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.       Philippians 2:13, NKJ

 

Then take these further steps to increase your hunger for Him. Make more time for Him. Set priorities for the things of the Spirit. Give up some of your television time. Give up certain magazines or hobbies. Get up thirty minutes earlier in the morning. Pray at least thirty minutes a day in tongues and study the Word of God.

Each of us needs to be deeply baptized in the Holy Spirit and to have rivers of living water flowing from deep within us. Sing in tongues. Praise and worship in tongues. Intercede and do spiritual warfare in tongues. Let the “river” flow out through you.

Your hunger will quickly grow, and your life will be transformed, for Jesus declared:

 

He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

                                                        John 7:38-39

 

The Key to Life-Changing Inner Healing

 

Whenever I minister inner healing to individuals who do not speak in tongues, with their permission I pray for them to speak fluently in tongues, usually in three or more unknown tongues. We all need to have great freedom in speaking in other tongues. This fluency, or ease, in speaking in tongues opens our spirits to the deep sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. It becomes much easier for us to open up to self-travail, and such self-travail is normally essential to life-transforming, quick inner healing.

Because many who are baptized in the Holy Spirit have shallow experiences, those experiences are too often not accompanied by inner healing or deliverance. Most of us do far too little singing, praying and spiritual warfare in tongues. We need much more teaching in the Body of Christ on the life-changing importance of regular praying in tongues. It should be at least thirty minutes a day. We need a revelation of the awesome benefits of speaking much in tongues, including greater intimacy with God, the deepening of our prayer lives, and an increased hunger for the things of God.

 

Deep or Shallow?

 

If any of the following conditions exist in your life, your experience in the Holy Spirit probably has not been deep enough, and you need to seek God more fully:

 

  1. You still have difficulty speaking easily or deeply in tongues, or you always whisper or speak quietly in tongues.

 

You are probably fearful that at times you are making the words up. Such doubt and unbelief keep it shallow. Fear not! Here is some life-changing good news: Your tongues are always from the Spirit and never from the flesh. Jesus said:

 

If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?                       Luke 11:11-13

Confess this truth over and over again, that you are getting bread and not a stone, a fish and not a serpent. You will soon get the revelation that your speaking or singing in tongues is always from the Lord and you are never making it up. This truth will bring a wonderful change in your prayer life. It will free you to speak more deeply in the tongues God has already given you and to receive new ones.

 

  2.  You have never spoken in more than one or two languages in tongues.

 

The Word of God refers to “divers kinds of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:10) or “diversities of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:28), which simply means “many” and “varied.” Countless thousands of Spirit-filled Christians, including Pattie and me, speak in many unknown tongues, and this blesses our lives greatly.

God has this experience for you also. By faith, start speaking in a different language, then another new one, until you have spoken in four or five new tongues. Speaking a new language in tongues will be like shifting from first to second gear. Then the next new tongue will be like shifting into third gear. By the third or fourth tongue, you will be in overdrive! Isn’t that exciting?

Never stop growing and deepening your experience. Later, speak in four or five more languages. Remember that you will always get bread and not a stone, a fish and not a serpent. Your language will not be made up or copied. It will be from God. His Word promises you this. Always stand on what His Word, His truth, declares, not on your feelings about His truth.

  3.  You haven’t felt a strong desire to pray in tongues, to read the Bible, or to go to Spirit-led meetings.

 

These are all sure indications that your experience in the Holy Spirit has not been deep enough. When you have a deep infilling of the Holy Spirit, a much deeper desire for the things of the Spirit will come into your life as a result.

 

What Can You Do to Receive

a Greater Infilling of the Holy Spirit?

 

If you are already filled with the Holy Spirit, to deepen your experience, do this:

 

  1.  For three days, shout loudly for thirty minutes in tongues each day.

 

This will help to release suppressed emotions and bring new joy, and the gifts of the Spirit will often begin to flow more freely in your life.

Is shouting scriptural? Yes, it is:

 

And it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.     Joshua 6:20

 

And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, so that the earth rang again.

                                                        1 Samuel 4:5

 

Also, shouting in tongues, even for a few minutes, will often cause inner healing or deliverance from evil spirits to begin. You will be amazed and excited about what the Lord will do for you through shouting in tongues. He surely takes the “foolish things of the world to confound the wise.” Try it.

Every day, when I am driving my car, I pray fervently in tongues. I shout or groan in travail and self-travail and even laugh in the Spirit. This practice has profoundly changed my life. Try this a few times in your automobile, and see what the Lord will do for you.

 

  2.  Pray or sing in tongues for twenty to thirty minutes every day.

 

Your intimacy with God will become greater. Your prayers will be answered more quickly. Your anointing in the Holy Spirit will grow and grow. The more you pray in tongues, the more you will enjoy it. It excites me to be with God. Even as I am typing this, I am looking forward with anticipation to getting into my car for a long session of praying in tongues, travailing in the Spirit, and fellowshipping with my Friend, my Savior, God’s Son, Jesus.

 

  3.  When you pray or sing in tongues, be aware that you are praying or singing to Jesus.

As you speak in tongues, don’t make the mistake I did for years. I prayed to the air, the floor or the walls, and not to God! God corrected me and told me He was in the room with me and that I must pray to Him, not to the air. He told me to be aware of His presence and even to picture Him in front of me as I prayed. This enlarged my prayer life and my intimacy with God.

Do the same thing. BY FAITH, picture Jesus in front of you. You often will begin to see Him in vision, even with your eyes open! EVEN AT THIS MOMENT, see Him in front of you. Look at Him. Let the sobbing come.

 

  4. By faith, change from one language in tongues to another.

 

You will get bread and not a stone, a fish and not a serpent. You can do it, and it will deepen your prayer life greatly. DO IT NOW!

 

  5.  Seek more inner healing.

 

Conclusion

 

Being baptized in the Holy Spirit DEEPLY not only brings more power, joy and a great love for Jesus into our lives, but it also enables us to receive inner healing more easily. With a deep infilling of the Holy Spirit, you will find it easier to Laugh and Cry Your Way to Freedom and be Changed Into His Image Through Inner Healing.